8 | The Peculiar Case of Elrond Peredhel

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Location: Imladris, Middle Earth

Time: June 2941 T.A

Word began going around the valley about the mysterious sorceress known as Illyria Ettelëa.

She thought it had a nice ring, but the opinions latched onto it was not something she was pleased about. It was a mix of opinions; some more...' expressive' than the others, but it didn't really budge the boulder that was herself.

She's been at the end of gossip many times, and even in her old home in Kamar-Taj – Illyria was never away from loud whispers that spoke about her. How a child of her age was under the care of one of the most powerful sorcerers in their history, and why she was brought up alongside other sorcerers. It caused tension around certain people who were offered tutelage, even if they couldn't admit how freaking adorable she was with her small stature: with her blonde hair braided and with tiny grey robes.

Illyria knew this since her dad had found photos of her in the Ancient One's belongings, along with a letter and the staff she gave her before she passed on. (Not gonna lie, she had to admit she was pretty fucking cute – especially with big blue eyes and the widest grin as she posed next to the temple entrance.)

It didn't help her own self-confidence that her telepathic abilities sprouted ever since she was a child, which was worse for Illyria. She couldn't control which thoughts she can listen to and if her thoughts can be heard from others, resulting in Illyria having major headaches. The lack of control led her to feel insecure, always doubting her place in the Mystic Arts.

Now, it was just like that. Elves were subtle indeed, but Illyria can smell bullshit from a mile away. The guards who watched her and Lord Elrond (now insisting to be called Elrond after that fiasco) duel in the training grounds a few days ago had most of a positive intake of her, asking about the different fighting styles she used and the weapon she wielded. The people around the city hearing about their fight was mostly the opposite.

Illyria shouldn't really put a label on it, but probably xenophobia might work.

She couldn't blame them. Illyria could imagine that majority of these elves have lived in this valley since its establishment and never had any vital reason to leave. It's a safe place, with its own magical barrier to protect and signal them in case of enemies. They had food, shelter, water (perhaps not electricity or Wi-Fi but never mind about that) and the elven music they needed to live their immortal lives. So why be open to having some stranger – a human stranger – come into their safe home? Not only that, why bring someone who could have potentially killed their lord?

Now she's feeling pretty much like Thor right now. (And she hasn't met him yet to know how he feels being on Earth).

What made things much worse: was the elves themselves.

Particularly the ones who worked at Lord Elrond's home. Illyria's suspicion was driving her to the very night Glorfindel, and Elrond spoke to each other, suspecting that what they talked about seemed to relate to what's been going on.

Like the twins for example.

One day, where Illyria had somehow entwined herself with not only the twin's devious plans but also Kili and Fili's. Ever since she had the two boys meet the Peredhil twins: it had been the worst thing to happen since Heinz baked beans on Weetabix biscuits. [1] At first, they were still hostile at one another, but after their fair share of stories pranking their parents or anyone they lived with – Illyria knew she made a grave mistake. Even a bigger mistake taking down those trolls over a week ago.

It was why she can admit to seeing Thorin's anger simmering away with his glare at her whenever they crossed paths in the house. Whilst the two have much had the mutual agreement to, and Illyria would quote 'Stay the fuck away' from each other apart from discussing the quest: she and Thorin could not get away that day since Gandalf had her talk to Balin, Thorin and Bilbo.

"Spending time with the elves, training with them." Thorin scoffed with a disgusted tone. "Why must I allow to take you along after what you've been doing?"

Illyria could easily facepalm right there, but she simply pointed out, "Because I'm..." She eyed down Bilbo and silently nudged him.

Bilbo glanced up to her, "Contracted?"

"Yes, what he said," Illyria answered. She really needed to get ahead of her Westron soon. 'I don't think I'll have a hobbit translator next to me all the time.' She thought.

"I can easily remove you." He sneered back.

'Oh, please.' Illyria mentally said, not even bothering to react at both Thorin and Balin jumping slightly as she projected a thought to them. They could complain or call her witch, but she wasn't going to have them pester her whilst she can't speak to them properly. 'Are you really going to try and get rid of me just now because I'm being an actual decent person?'

Gandalf flashed her a look of warning, and she quickly deflated back her anger. Honestly, the wizard might be a meddling little shit: but Illyria was still terrified of the Maia no matter if he needed to look a little tidier...and perhaps some cologne. He still smelled like pipe weed (and maybe a bit of what Radagast smelled like) and from last night's dinner. Though despite Illyria's issues with the wizard's habits, she knew he was on the verge of wanting to whack Thorin with his staff.

Gandalf said in an exasperated tone, "Thorin, you must rid of your prejudice with the elves! Thank Illyria Strange for bringing some mutual friendship between your two races."

"Yes! By corrupting my sister sons with those twins." Thorin exclaimed.

Raising her hands, she replied to defence. "I'm not corrupting them! Your nephews are really enjoying their company." Illyria paused, before shrugging back. "I mean, apart from the amount of trouble that's exponentially increased the past week: I'd say they're mending some of this petty feud."

Was she wrong? That's right. No. At least Illyria was spitting facts.

"And who was to initiate that, sorceress?"

Okay, might need some ice for that burn. Illyria could not lie; she was the one who brought the four together. Hell, it was also likely that little Estel might have joined the bandwagon too.

That wasn't good.

"Thorin, you must calm down and negotiate." Balin, ever the politician and negotiator, tried to calm the dwarven king down. "Their friendship may possibly offer closure to what we seek which is to have Lord Elrond read the map."

"Which is why you must show the map to him, Thorin Oakenshield. Or I will do it myself if you do not do so!" Gandalf's voice grown lower, and an odd rumbling feeling shaken Illyria's body that could almost result in her skin prickling.

When the wizard was angry. He was angry. Not even a Snickers can stop him. [2]

Illyria waited for Thorin's answer, and his big thick skull saw through the realisation of Gandalf's reasoning. His shoulder's stifled upright, eyeing the grey wizard with a nod.

The dwarven king replied, "Alright, I will show it to him." But then his eyes narrowed to hers and with a gravelly voice. "But not a word. Even from you, sorceress. I will not have our quest fail because of you revealing our intentions."

With a stiff nod, she responded. "Pinky promise."

She wasn't sure if the others understood what she meant, though the only two who understood Sindarin seemed rather confused at her response.

Thorin stalked off, but not without glancing over next to her where Bilbo was for probably too long to be normal, whilst Balin gazed up to her with a sympathetic smile. She gave the elder dwarf a reassuring smile and told him that she would keep her promise not to speak of it further. And so Balin followed, which then left her standing idly in the presence of the wizard and Bilbo.

"I do apologise, Illyria." Gandalf exhaled, adjusting his hat back to its usual position. "However, I must say to you that you will need to tread more carefully when speaking to Thorin. Your response and your character as of now will only set you further from joining them again."

She sighed sharply, fiddling with her sling ring as she looked out into the gardens. Again, it was a beautiful spring day. She wondered if she truly was here now, or this was some Matrix simulation. [3] Or perhaps like the Hex... [4]

"I know, Gandalf," Illyria spoke. "I have yet to try...how you would say...keep my patience. But it's been a bit difficult when everything you do is suspicious to them."

Bilbo hummed in agreement beside her. "It's is a little difficult to integrate with the Company."

"Oh Bilbo Baggins, Illyria Strange." Gandalf looked at her and Bilbo, his eyes glimmering with a mix of sympathy and pride. "How you fail to recognise yourself with reasonable esteem perplexes me." With that, he gave them a nod and glided off with no time for her nor Bilbo to respond.

It was her turn to give Bilbo a look, to which he shrugged and then snorted. Illyria couldn't help but chuckle along and decided to guide them down to where the library was – hoping to catch Ori on the way down.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

When she wasn't doing various activities that either involved Nala, a sword or keeping the twins and the Durinsons from destroying the entire valley, Illyria did was she liked to do - which was go to the library and spend the entire time having her nose over a book and perhaps take a big sniff at it (not that sort of sniff; don't do drugs, kids). If she had to guess, Illyria had once covered all the books in the library in Kamar-Taj and the New York Sanctum.

The ones that weren't restricted to her specifically.

Before her dad became her dad, Illyria and Stephen Strange somehow bonded over books – always asking each other about spells and casting and other lore needed for their training. In fact, she was the one that managed to get through Uncle Wong's graces ever since the old librarian got killed (unfortunately) and he took the position. During her dad's training, Stephen got used to listening to her and asked how she could easily conjure Eldritch shields and portals at such an age.

Stephen's stubbornness and Illyria's willingness to be open and non-judgemental perhaps gave that spark for them.

It was why it was a comforting nostalgia when she, Ori and Bilbo are in the library together. Ori had yet to learn Tengwar so it's been her translating some of the text for them but also Bilbo. Despite knowing Sindarin fluently, Bilbo had yet to master the written language. As for her, Illyria just wasn't surprised anymore that she can easily read a language she had yet not encountered before.

And holy fuck, it was harder and prettier than she thought.

Whilst Ori and Bilbo were reading for their own pleasure and knowledge, Illyria was doing a little bit of digging. In particular, the history of the elves in Middle Earth and what had changed to make Elrond Peredhel, son of Elwing and Earendil, to be close kin to Glorfindel of Gondolin.

Her first assumption was to figure out the oldest history, but that came into an obstacle – also known as the head librarian in Elrond's home. Erestor was (if she can put it in sensible words) the sort of elf that would want their tea at the exact temperature they would want to drink it. She's not exactly insulting the elf for that analogy, though she had met a lot of people like himself who preferred to be with his own hobby than people.

However, their first introductions were not the thing she expected. Erestor had almost frozen in his spot finding her in front of him, with a book in his left hand whilst another was sticking halfway out of the shelf. His eyes, icy blue, could match Central Park's lake if it was frozen during the winter months if he actually blinked and spoke.

Illyria tried to ease the elf, smiling politely up to him, and asking where she could find some books about the second age of Middle Earth. It took some time for Erestor to process her request before assuring her that it was unfortunately unavailable and that most were being used by other elves under his tutelage.

Well, that wasn't suspicious at all.

Instead, Illyria kindly thanked Erestor before he could return to his work – his actions rather robotic whilst she walked away back to where Ori and Bilbo were sitting.

She huffed as she plopped down on the chair beside Bilbo, earning a concerned glance from the hobbit. "What's wrong, Illyria?"

Illyria looked around, darting across the aisles of books to see if anyone else was around. 'I'm trying to find something about the history of the elves in the First Age, but the librarian says they're unavailable.' She slumped down on the desk, holding her head on top of her folded arms. Leaning across, she watched Ori copy several scriptures onto his own book. 'I'm not saying that it's suspicious, but it's suspicious.'

"What about it?" Bilbo quietly asked her.

She decided not to say it aloud but did notice Ori pausing to eye them warily due to Bilbo's unannounced words. Illyria nodded to the young dwarf and mentally said, 'Don't worry Ori, nothing bad. Just something me and Bilbo are talking about the other night.'

The dwarf slowly nodded but never took another second to pause and returned to his work.

"We weren't talking about Elves in the First Age at all." Bilbo furrowed his eyebrows before spotting the frustrated look she had. "Did something happen, Illyria?"

It was there she just blurted out, not even caring who else could sense her thoughts. She removed Ori from the picture and focused back on Bilbo's mind. 'When your mother came here when she was younger, did she know about Glorfindel being siblings with Elrond?'

'Yes...' He slowly replied, elaborating further for her: 'My mother mentioned of it as that was very much the purpose of her trip to Rivendell. She had wanted to learn more about the elves, more importantly, Glorfindel's sister.'

Illyria rotated her head sharply to look up at Bilbo with creased brows. Did she hear that right? 'Glorfindel has a sister?' She gaped back. 'Since when the fuck did this happen?'

As much as Bilbo was not pleased with her rude reaction, he was more caught in confusion as he stared at her. "Was she not in your..."

Sitting straight back up, Illyria shook her head and explained further: 'In my version, nothing was mentioned about siblings. And if his parents weren't even mentioned let alone his date of birth.'

Her pondering led her to think about the elf lord in question. She read the Silmarillion before, though enough to know the main parts that occurred as well as the other smaller books referring to several tales, which involved the Fall of Gondolin. It had mentioned the Noldorin elf followed Turgon during the Exile of the Noldor, where they crossed the barren icy wastelands to then establish a hidden city which Ulmo led the former High King ruled. Nothing else was mentioned about what Glorfindel did or if he ever had any relationships. [5] [6]

Illyria backtracked through her thought process and came to remember what the Ancient One and the masters spoke of. How the Multiverse was extensive and was still growing; how one world could have multiple realities, all different no matter how similar you can believe it be. One small difference can alter the course of its future.

And this reality of this universe had already been affected by not only her but the birth of this new character. This...well she would have to technically call her ancient because she was. This elf would be over 6000 years old, and she would probably still look like a Vogue model. But besides the thought of a possible feminine sexy version of Glorfindel, Illyria was intrigued at the possibility of this universe itself.

If she fell into Middle Earth, it had been this one. If so, why this universe with these changes?

The portal that brought her in was a haze. The longer she thought about it, the more Illyria realized her memory of fighting and landing into Middle Earth was getting harder to depict. Had she been dreaming about that as well?

There goes her brain again, being opened like a door and bulldozed by a truck. This was one of the reasons she hated being part of the Mystic Arts, and that was having to accept and understand that the world and reality around her were more than just the physical and material plane. She was brought up to accept that there are multiple possibilities, and therefore multiple consequences.

She was so invested in her head that she only heard Bilbo's last parts, "...hearing how much you must know, but now-"

A heavy, and very unappealing, groan escaped her lips as she rubbed her face. 'Yeah, it seems like everything in this world is a little different than what I intended.' Illyria turned to him and smiled wryly. 'Which isn't entirely surprising.'

"How so?" Bilbo asked audibly, curious what she meant by that.

How was she going to explain this? She did not expect the hobbit to either understand quantum physics or the Mystic Arts.

'Let's just imagine another reality, where perhaps you didn't join the Company or some other hobbit did.' Illyria slowly explained, 'There are many realities and many more worlds just like this.'

She watched Bilbo let the words seep in, his eyebrows and face scrunching to focus before he looked over at her with a side smile. "Then I am glad that you have stumbled in this one, Illyria."

Something must have tied a knot around her heart because Illyria was almost eager to squeeze the hobbit and hug the daylights out of him. Of course, she wasn't going to do it (or else Thorin won't have his hobbit to hug with obviously) but felt herself smile in honour towards him.

Bilbo Baggins deserved someone. And she would do whatever she can to make sure this hobbit get's his dwarf whether the two didn't acknowledge it or not.

Though as her happiness subsided, Illyria frowned as she questioned, 'Wait, you said 'had' a sister. Is she alive? What happened to her?'

Bilbo shook his head and flipped the page of the book. "I don't know." He continued, "My mother's research was rather cut short as well. It was said that when she was mentioned, there was a mixture of opinions of her. As well as wondering if she's passed or she's sailed."

She wondered, 'Why's that?' Illyria tapped her own quill on the parchment. She might as well start writing whatever Bilbo's been writing. 'Was she un-elfy or something? Or did she murder someone? Oh god, I hope not.'

It was a possibility. There was clear evidence that some elves turned bad over the years, depending on how you would see it on your side. Such as the Fëanorians and the Kingslaying. But if she continued throughout the rest of the ages, Illyria couldn't imagine this elf surviving with the Ainur hating on any kinslaying elves. [7]

Bilbo shook his head furiously and crossed his arms. "N-no! Not in that way. Well from what the books and what my mother told me, she used to be loved by the Noldor elves and disliked by the Sindar." He explained further, "There was an Ancient War in the First Age. They said she changed the course of the war but also were a part of the very reason it was much like it."

'Sounds like main character vibes.' Illyria commented, and resumed. 'And I know what you're speaking of. The War of Wrath. It probably was the most horrific war, worse than what happened in the Second Age.' [8]

He further explained his own side to her vocally, "Us hobbits didn't exactly exist then. We didn't enter the history until what the elves and humans called the Third Age." Bilbo inhaled sharply, "But all I know, I believe, is that her name was Elemmírë."

As that name echoed into her ears, Illyria felt the room grow still and froze.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"Why are you still awake, my love?" The figure hovered behind her, leaning his head down close to her shoulder.

The other elf leaned back, sensing his back as she shut her eyes as a sigh left her lips. "I could not sleep; my mind has been too full for the past days." Tears slowly fell over her cheeks as she leaned over the desk, tears staining the written pages of the book.

Kneeling beside her seat, the figure stared at the elleth, his hands entwining over her fingers. "Oh meleth nin, what is wrong?" He asked her, "Please, I cannot help you if you cannot tell me."

The elven woman turned to him, tears continuing to litter her face. "I do not know if I can control it anymore." She confessed. "Every day, I feel it growing. So fast that I'm afraid it would hurt you and the children."

"Oh meleth nin," His eyes saddened, a hand wiping across her cheek as he spoke. "You can never hurt me, neither our children. Your power is a gift, not a curse, and that no one can be able to control it other than yourself."

The elleth whispered, "Promise me, melmenya." She pleaded to the ellon, "Carevamme cen an mime tulwië." [9] [10]

He stared at her in dread, trying to search in her mind. "Why?" He asked, "Meleth nin-"

"Promise me." She spoke with utter pleading, with wide startling eyes.

Gulping, he lifted her hand – pressing his lips on the back of her hand before answering. "Antan vandaya, melmenya. Ni annetye mime quetta ar mime hon, Elemmírë." [11]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"Illyria?"

Blinking away, she was thrown back again to the present – looking at the parchment and quill in front of her. Her heart was practically a drumkit after band practice, feeling it almost jump out of her chest if she didn't snap herself out of it with Bilbo's concerning voice.

Though once she unclenched her hands, she turned to the hobbit and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Your eyes." A worried expression was plastered on Bilbo, reaching out to put his small palm over hers on the table. "It was as if your mind went elsewhere."

The small action caused her to inhale, remembering that vision so vividly. That hand...that kiss. It was so real. How their hand fitted well over each other. A hand that seemed familiar. When she hoped to see the figure's face in front of her, all she saw was Ori who had stared at them with concern and his own worry.

Illyria shook her head, raking her hands over her hair in frustration. "Sorry, Bilbo. I was just thinking." She knew that Bilbo wasn't convinced of her answer, though allowed to let it slide as he let his hand return to the page of the book.

Ori, ever the sweet shy one, finally spoke up. "I'm glad you are both talking again." He nervously chuckled, "Hearing Bilbo only speak is rather frightening."

While she gave him an amused smile, it took Illyria a while to adjust before picking up the pen. Unsure what she had been taking notes about. Though the memory of eyeing the blank parchment drew her back to the vision, imagining that navy-coloured bound book in front of her. The tears that would have made the ink run.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

She lost most of her sleep again, believing that after that revelation it would give her some solitude. But instead: it had given her more questions based on the reality around her.

Almost a week had passed since their arrival to the valley. Illyria wasn't sure exactly the time span of the Company's stay at Imladris, though it would seem it was longer than expected. (Illyria wasn't sure if it was because of her involvement with the elves and the quest or it was in course of the entire story and that the movie just cut a lot of the scenes. Though, she couldn't blame Peter Jackson for skipping a lot of the scenes here; all the dwarves have done is bathe naked in a fountain and be jackasses the entire time.) [12]

She did what she could to get by, almost sensing that time was physically dragging on for the sake of her suffering. Even meditation couldn't aid her and there was no chance that she could spend her time going through her own research when she didn't have the right equipment. All she could do was read, babysit the troublemakers, and learn more about Westron.

And also dodge the very two elves she should be going for answers.

Yes: she had questions. But demanding who this elf who was either dead or sailed away was going to give her some weird looks. Illyria wasn't going to make herself stand out any more than she already was.

Hoping that today was going to be another one without any elves in question, she just had to pass by the very one she didn't want to see.

Lord Elrond was very much in his own thoughts as well, his eyes straight upwards to their direction he was going, though with a glossy look that Illyria knew well from many others. How someone's mind can cloud their own actions always made her curious, and it shocked her as she sat on the balcony ledge – her phone in her hand – that he could easily still focus where he went despite his heavy thoughts. A quick glance at him caused him to snap his brain to her, and Illyria quickly flicked around and looked out into the city below.

The cliff that overlooked this balcony seemed pretty nice. She wondered how long it would take her to hit the ground and break her legs just to get out of here. Well, she could use her sling-ring instead to escape this impending conversation but alas she was too much of a decent human being to rudely break a spine (and literally too).

As she dangled her legs over the balcony, she heard his gentle steps fall into place next to her. When she glanced to her side: there she found Elrond – clearly distraught.

"Good day." She greeted him.

"Good day, my lady-" Elrond paused before he then corrected himself. "Illyria."

Illyria kept her eyes out into the landscape, her expression grim as she said, "From your worried look and clouded mind: Thorin must have shown you the map last night?"

A large heavy sigh escaped from him. "Yes," Elrond answered, annoyance in his tone. "And it took quite a while to discuss the matters of hand with Mithrandir afterwards of its purpose. Would you know about it?"

'Don't I know about it...' Illyria huffed internally. 'Oh boy, you have no idea how much shit's gonna go down in a few months.'

Her eyes darted to him and gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, not my right to say." Illyria raised her eyebrows before sarcastically complaining, "Which has been spoken to me for the entirety of my time here in Middle Earth."

There was a moment of silence between her and Elrond, both feeling empty and unsure what to say after that. Maybe she shouldn't have continued; now it looked like it was all about her. Illyria rose her eyebrows again at this. She was the sort of anomaly in this world, and perhaps right now: the Valar was probably coming to pummel her ass with whatever powers they had for interrupting their little one hobbit show.

Until then, he spoke gravely, "I have not been truthful, if I may confess." Elrond continued, "Mithrandir has told me your issue."

Her eyes darted upwards, glancing at the elven lord. However, his own gaze seemed to focus on the view in front of them off the balcony. A panging feeling in her chest thrummed, uncertain where the heck it came from as she returned her eyes back front and chose her words carefully.

Illyria responded, "I see." Another sigh filled the air, as she twirled the phone in her hand. A sickly feeling in her stomach beginning to form. She spoke, "He is telling the truth, and that I'm not from this world."

"Where do you come from?" He questioned. Not in an interrogating way like those FBI shows she's seen over and over again with Darcy (honestly, after five years with her they've practically watched every show on earth. Even the show Wanda Maximoff made) but perhaps in a curious tone. Like how someone would ask when they would meet someone in a café. [13]

Maybe during a date or something.

Illyria swiped those thoughts away before they could get somewhere.

She answered truthfully, "A place called Earth, neither top nor middle or bottom...Just Earth."

His head now glanced down to her. Their eye instantly meeting simultaneously. "How did you arrive here, then?" Elrond asked another question, his voice now more intrigued than curious.

In her head, Illyria was doing everything to stop her mouth from spitting every little detail at him. Her rational part of her head knew of this. It was already a great risk telling Bilbo everything about her and who she was. Telling somebody else that had greater power and hold to many things as well as being immortal was possibly the worst thing she could do.

However, her irrational heart almost caught her in a knot – whispering for her to at least say something back in a quip. "Well, that's an entirely different story to tell." Illyria smiled at him, and she watched him ponder at her answer for a second.

There is was, the glint of amusement in his eyes as he answered back: "I think I can spare some time to listen to your tale."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Telling someone how you got here had to be the most relieving thing Illyria had done.

Forget about telling immortal beings that she was a PhD student accidentally getting caught in a fight against a rogue sorcerer, she felt like a whole weight left her shoulders. Elrond might not be a licensed doctor, but as someone who was a healer: he could get along with some therapy sessions.

And so, they talked. And talked. And...talked.

A range of different topics was connected by her own mind going off tangent whilst Elrond was quick at keeping up with her speed. She was surprised he took it all in well (or just hiding it well enough in his head not to question mentally what this weird human was talking about). There were questions on several parts, like what her subject was: what a school was and certain things that randomly popped out of her mouth.

She tried talking about Wi-Fi and the internet and that led to him almost having some breakdown.

Illyria shouldn't have talked about a virtual library of knowledge that can fit in one singular device to an elf that invested his entire life researching and learning. (She chuckled in amusement when she caught his eyes bulge at the phone in her hand, seeing the photo of Imladris pixelated). Imagine how he would react if she introduced to him Google. The half-elf won't ever get off the internet any time soon. [14]

As much as she spoke about her life on Earth, Illyria was cautious to answer sensitive questions. She strayed far from anything to do with the Mystic Arts enough to keep him concentrated, her eyes always just slightly from his eyes – looking around his office as she noticed more books and scrolls lingering in bookshelves.

Illyria had some feeling that Elrond had known her activity down in the library after she budged about the history of the elves, asking if he had some books regarding Beleriand and the Noldor elves. [15]

And in his head, she saw a tiny crackle of fear in him. It was small, but she wasn't easy so disregarding the details.

After she thanked him for the lunch and conversation, she left his office for him to continue with work with a shuddering sense expelling from her fingertips. 'Something is definitely up with him, and you know it, Strange.' Illyria told herself as she faced forwards and began to walk. 'Or maybe you're just being paranoid; or being awkward as always to anyone that gives your attention. You've never been good at these things.'

Illyria turned around the corner (corner? Well, more like a straight line but her head was kind of elsewhere) when she halted her steps.

Running towards her was the youngest Durinson.

And he seemed to be out of breath – and definitely not because of running. He caught her gaze, a slight expansion in his eyes before the dwarven boy before she raised an eyebrow and leaned his head to the side. He was staring at the double doors at the end of the corridor.

Kili took staggered breaths, calling out: "You were with Lord Elrond for a long time, what were you speaking about?"

How the fuc-

Okay, she was going to keep her cool down. She wasn't going to throw herself into his bait like a flounder and easily fall into his mischievous grin that was beginning to form from in his mind.

Illyria coolly answered his question, "How I got here and where I was from." A grin spread across her lips and she mentioned through his mind: 'Did you know that this place has natural hot springs? That means there must be some volcano somewhere...Hey, where's your brother?'

Expecting Fili to come rushing down came at a loss when she spotted a much taller figure skid up to Kili's side – hair whipping around him as he was too focused on Kili and what was behind his back.

"I set the trap, Kili. Now we just have to wait for Fili, Estel and Dan's-" Elrohir froze, his eyes flashing in fear before nervously waving at her, "Hi...Lady Illyria."

She looked at them, raising an eyebrow. "Uhuh..." Illyria folded her arms over and said blankly, 'Hello, Elrohir. I hope you five aren't causing that much trouble?'

"What do you mean? We've been the perfect guests, Lyria." Kili spoke with an innocent tone.

Yep. Totally suspicious alright.

She snorted and spoke, "I will believe you when pigs fly." Illyria then changed her tone and asked, "What were you doing?"

"What were you doing in my father's study?" Elrohir gave a peering look and then whispered in her head, 'I hope it was something appropriate.'

Illyria widened her eyes and she choked out, "Talking if you must know! And...no." She shook her head before making a soured face. Her face must have looked like a tomato by then. "Not like that."

The elf's eyes were sparkling in amusement, answering through their mind. 'I won't judge you, Lady Illyria. Father has been rather lonely the past half a century.'

After that comment, something must have died in her mouth and decided to stay there. Or maybe a Sour Patch Kid (she hated those as a child and pulled all desires in eating American candy for eternity). [16]

But yes: there was a moment where it was a mix of shock, horror and slight embarrassment (not that she was going to admit to anyone, heck no) before Illyria gave him an unamused expression.

She warned him with narrowed eyes. 'If you and your brother try to act as wingmen, I will be the one trapping you in a box and sending you off to Mirkwood.'

"My lady, if my father heard you." Elrohir chuckled, "Also, King Thranduil hates us. Hates us more after we became friends with Legolas."

She muttered under her breath, "I can see why."

"ELLADAN! ELROHIR! ESTEL!"

And at the roaring voice of the blonde elf, Illyria darted her eyes back at Elrohir with a questioning look. The cheeky elf just simply smiled back before she then spotted three people running towards them. One had been the Peredhel's brother, the other being Fili. And to her surprise: Estel out of all people.

Now there's five of them?

I mean, what did she expected. Of course, if four of them banded together, the youngest was going to get pulled in like a puppet.

Elladan said in between breaths, "Brother, we escaped. But he's after us."

"Please can you use your magical portal!" Kili flicked to her and begged.

She made a cross with her hands and exclaim, "Heck no! I'm not getting involved!" Illyria refused to be a part of their nefarious schemes and wasn't going to give in no matter what. She was probably one of the strongest people in this city, both in this plane and the rest. Illyria Strange wasn't going to care for five children.

All five of them gave her the biggest puppy eyes.

Damnit.

She exasperated aloud, "Argh, fine!" Illyria glared at all of them, making sure her annoyance will be the last thing they'll see before turning up somewhere outside the city. "But you. You five owe me."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" All of them bowed their heads at her before she huffed.

The elf's voice was getting louder as she created the golden portal through one of the walls. As she finished, the two elven twins pecked her cheeks whilst Kili and Fili bowed their heads before Estel waved back at her that sent her creeping a small smile at the little boy.

Just as the portal shut behind the five, she glanced over her shoulder to see a tall silhouette enter her eyesight.

Glorfindel demanded, "Where did they go?"

But she wasn't exactly focusing on his question. More likely at what was right on top of his head.

Right before her: was an ancient Noldorin elf and a former Lord of the House of the Golden Flower.

And he was ginger.

Illyria stuttered as her hand rose, "My...word your hair is..." Her sentence cut off as she immediately began laughing, clamping her mouth with her hand.

Holy shit. She had not seen something like this ever since Harley, Morgan and she decided to paint Tony's prototype suit – the Mark LXXXIV – in bright neon pink one night. (She and Harley were on babysitting duty that evening, as Pepper was adamant to take Tony out of the garage for once and go on some date.) Tony turned up the morning after in his garage in shock to find that the 1980s neon theme just exploded in there.

But this and the fact that it was one of her favourite characters in the books who now was ginger – this beats all the pranks she had seen.

He exhaled a large breath and said in defeat, "Orange, yes. I know." But he stiffened up and asked irritably, "Are you finished?"

Calming herself down, Illyria wiped an imaginary tear off her cheek before shaking her head. "If you're looking for them, catching the five won't solve your so-called...hair issue." She waved a pointed finger at his hair and gestured for her to follow. "Come on, Weasley. I know how to sort this out."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Another heavy sigh left his lips as he revealed, "Thank you, Illyria." He turned his eyes to her, grumbling to himself. "If my guards see me with orange hair, they won't stop talking about it until the new year."

The two of them had been sorting out his hair, trusting Illyria's method as he kept himself sat down. His head was laying back down, hair sprawled in a large bowl of water whilst she sat by his side. They've been probably doing this in the past two hours or so after Glorfindel found her. She had dyed her hair once before despite Darcy's refusal. Call it a teenage rebel phase she once had, probably after Darcy telling her that she couldn't skip high school to go to university no matter if Tony Stark told you he could fund her tuition. (Which didn't really work because the outcome was Illyria having silver hair and a letter to get into Culver University).

The first few rounds of dyeing her hair were a major flop, with parts of her hair being too silvery whilst the roots were still blonde. Illyria hadn't dyed her hair past the age of entering university, choosing to keep her hair colour (and also the fact that student budgeting was a thing). But she learnt the technique of losing dye at a quicker rate.

Which slightly used some magic to speed the process.

What her dad won't know won't hurt him.

As she rinsed his hair, Illyria informed him of the outcome. "It'll take some time, but I used a simple spell to not make it permanent." She continued, "You'll just have to keep washing it every so often."

"If I get my hands at those twins..." He breathed into his nose, eyeing her upwards as he added: "You do not know how much trouble they are when they are here."

Oh, she can imagine alright. It's been almost a week of it.

"Do they often go out?" She asked him curiously. "Other than patrols and whatnot."

"Yes, from time to time," Glorfindel answered back, explaining further to her as to why the twins stayed. "Though ever since Estel arrived here, they have been here to aid Elrond to raise him."

She felt herself let out a small smile, imagining the elven family do various activities around Imladris. Perhaps go down to the market or climb up to the waterfall. Maybe they taught Estel to spar together, deducing by how the young future king seemed to know the moves of his father's fighting. "They are really good to Estel," Her voice grew soft in wonder. "Lo-... Elrond must be proud of them."

The elven lord's eyes glistened over, remembering something as he replied. "Elrond has been always kind and considerate, taking in any of his brother's descendants ever since Angmar..." His voice trailed off all of a sudden, with such widened eyes that she had to pause her hands.

She had seen similar expressions before, having to see it on herself and everyone else she loved after what happened last year. Illyria knew that no one in her world had come out of the snap as if nothing occurred to them. They all had five years to adjust to it; five years that she felt that she was dragging her own ass just to feel alive.

Illyria had also seen it in her guardian, who was always the bravest person she had known. Darcy Lewis had put a brave face for her ever since her dad dusted, and after she met her again after New Jersey: Illyria had seen her change. Moments where it was too quiet, sitting in front of the television in their part of the Sanctum: Darcy would stare at the TV like she was seeing something horrifying happening.

Truthfully, Illyria did not know what exactly happened to her and her father in the Hex. Maybe one day she would.

That was why she knew not to ponder on, noticing how the name Angmar almost brought him to harsh memories.

However, she couldn't help but sense a familiar longing towards the blonde elf. Why can she sense the pain? His pain? She wasn't there.

And her stupid mouth decided to blurt out the very thing she shouldn't have said. "Glorfindel, I heard about you." Illyria continued, "Your story."

Glorfindel tilted his head to his right and spoke. "...and?"

"Your sister." Her voice grew tight, her mind trying to reel her back in, but her heart was not vibing for it. Damn her poor coordination. "What happened to her?" Illyria asked quietly.

Glorfindel stared at her, lips parted as he breathed: "I..."

"You don't have to tell me." She rushed out, blinking away her own trance before she murmured, "I know what it is like to lose someone."

It was his turn to widen his eyes. Glorfindel questioned, "You have lost someone?"

She gulped, grinding her teeth slightly before nodding slowly. "A very good friend of mine." Illyria quickly dodged any more elaboration as she apologised, "And I'm sorry...I just wanted to ask about her, but I can understand you don't want to speak of it."

Whilst she began drying his hair with a towel, she cast her spell in his hair and watched it turn a slight blonder shade.

He quickly replied, "No, no. It's just that: we were rather close." Glorfindel's voice cracked, her heart skipping as the blonde elf continued, "She was younger than me by a few hundred years. But without our parents, I raised her until she was grown."

The sudden realisation hit her like a bullet train. Her heart plummeted.

She whispered under her breath as she stared back at him, who sat straight up next to her. "The big brother." Illyria spoke, "You must miss her."

Glorfindel simply looked at her, a blank look on his face before turning away to stare out of the window in the room. Maybe it was best not to go any further. She knew that if she asked more, she would feel more guilt than she had at the start.

The last thing he mentioned stuck to her head though, a sombre smile on his lips. "Despite her waiting for us across in Valinor, I know she is with family." [17]

____

[1] - Heinz Baked Beans on Weetabix biscuits: The worst thing to ever happen on Twitter.
[2] - Snickers: A brand of chocolate comprised of caramel and nuts.
[3] - The Matrix: A sci-fi movie about a computer programmer who is on the run and led to a fight against powerful computers who constructed his own reality called the Matrix.
[4] - The Hex: What Dr Darcy Lewis defines as the barrier of Wanda Maximoff's reality in Westview as it shaped in a hexagon.
[5] - The Silmarillion: A collection of stories written by JRR Tolkien about Arda and the Legendarium of his world.
[6] - King Turgon of Gondolin: A ancient elven king who ruled the secret city of Gondolin, fell during the fall of his city after Maeglin revealed its whereabouts to Morgoth.
[7] - Feanorians: Name for the members of the House of Feanor.
[8] - War of Wrath: The final conflict in Beleriand between the free peoples of Middle Earth and Morgoth.
[9] - Melmenya: Meaning 'My love' in Quenya.
[10] - Carevamme cen an mime tulwië: 'Do not look for my future,' In Quenya
[11] - Antan vandaya, melmenya. Ni annetye mime quetta ar mime hon, Elemmírë. 'I swear, my love. I give you my word and my heart, Elemmire.' In Quenya
[12] - Peter Jackson: The man, the boi. The director who created the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogy movies.
[13] - FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States.
[14] - Google: A search engine.
[15] - Beleriand: The land west of Middle Earth, sank into the seas after the War of Wrath.
[16] - Sour Patch Kids: A sour candy brand.
[17] - Valinor: The realm of which the Valar reside, set on the continent of Aman.

____

A/N:  It's been quite a while since I've updated, so I decided to give a treat and update twice. The next chapter should be up later. :)

Edited: 07/08/2021